Rick Pluta | MPRN
Rick Pluta is Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network.
He has been covering Michigan’s Capitol, government, and politics since 1987. His journalism background includes stints with UPI, The Elizabeth (NJ) Daily Journal, The (Pontiac, MI) Oakland Press, and WJR. He is also a lifelong public radio listener.
Rick was one of the first Michigan political reporters to write about “pay-to-play” fundraising, and the controversies surrounding recognition of same-sex relationships. He broke the news that Gov. John Engler was planning a huge juvenile justice overhaul that included adult-time-for-adult-crime sentencing, and has continued to report since then on the effects of that policy decision.
He co-hosted the weekly segment “It’s Just Politics” on Michigan Radio with Zoe Clark.
Rick is fascinated by the game of politics, and the grand plans and human foibles that go into policy-making. You will never find him ice-fishing.
Follow him on Twitter at @rickpluta
-
With President Joe Biden's decision to drop out of the campaign, Democrats in Michigan and elsewhere are faced with choosing a new candidate for president. -
The Michigan Supreme Court ruling allows judges to add restitution when they're resentencing people who were initially sentenced to life without parole. -
A man fled from Kalamazoo officers after they told him he was being detained. He was convicted of fleeing and resisting police. The question was whether the officers should have chased him in the first place. -
One of the most anticipated decisions this year from the Michigan Supreme Court will soon determine the fate of the state’s minimum wage and earned sick leave laws. A decision is expected soon as the Supreme Court session wraps up at the end of the month. -
Governor Gretchen Whitmer reasserted Monday that she has faith President Joe Biden can win Michigan in November. That’s despite the president’s widely panned performance in his first debate of the 2024 campaign with former President Donald Trump. -
Michigan State University political science professor Matt Grossman says historically, debates move polls by a couple of percentage points but that effect doesn’t linger. -
The Michigan Legislature pulled an all-nighter Wednesday through early Thursday to finalize the new state budget. -
Landlords would be barred from discriminating against tenants or prospective tenants who use housing vouchers or other types of public assistance to pay the rent under bills adopted by the Legislature. -
A Michigan Court of Claims judge has entered a provisional order that bars enforcement of a handful of the state's remaining abortion restrictions. -
The state House adopted a bill Tuesday that would reduce the state’s contributions to the public school employee retirement fund.
